Tedd+BrentLBF

Executive Summary
In reviewing the 232 responses (now up to 262) to the Learning, Boredom, and Fun Survey gathered by our EdTec 670 class, the range of respondents both in age and education was varied, and those in the survey shared motley learning experiences from their lives. With some respondents as young as seven years old, many of the experiences labeled as "fun" and "boring" were from elementary school classrooms, but as some responders were in their 70's, many shared experiences about learning both in and out of the classroom, from dissections in a lab to learning to surf.

As a high school teacher and youth pastor, I have the unique situation where I regularly speak and teach to elementary school students through to the adult age, so rather than focusing my research on a certain age group or level of learning, I looked for commonalities in boring and fun experiences from a sampling of 100 out of the 232 survey responders; I believe that regardless of the learning level of the experience, there will be common aspects of the situation that affect people's perception of what is fun and what is boring. I desired to dig a little deeper beyond the common sense results that indicated boring experiences included a high expectation of listening, watching, sitting still, and remembering-- or that fun experiences were often characterized by interaction with people or artifacts, creative thinking, moving around, and performing. In examining 100 short-answer portions of the surveys on what made experiences boring or fun, I broke the responders explanations down into subcategories and kept track of how many shared common reasons for their classifications.

What Makes Learning Boring?
Even though the experiences responders perceived as boring had a common set of expectations like listening at 92.9%, watching at 71.4%, sitting still at 75.1%, etc., by examining the short answer descriptions, it is possible to further break down and discuss the particulars of what struck participants as key factors in lessening the enjoyment of the learning experience.

Out of the 100 surveys studied, specific reasons as to why the experience was boring could be isolated as follows: There was little to no interaction in lesson: 30 The instructor was uninspiring or dull: 29 The subject matter was flat and insipid: 15 There was no relevance/incentive to learn: 8 There were distractions disrupting leaning: 5 The instructor was perceived as antagonistic: 5 The assignment was problematic/difficult: 4 The overall presentation was lacking: 4 The setting/atmosphere was uncomfortable: 4

Perhaps most obvious and most expected would be that little to no interaction-- usually characterized by straight lecture-- was the highest contributor to perceived boredom. Unfortunately, this mode of instruction is often unavoidable when large amounts of information must be communicated. As a high school instructor, I have been coached to make lessons as interactive as possible, but some classes such as history and math, must have some amount of direct instruction. Ironically, despite how interactive the high school environment may be, upon taking college courses, especially lower division requirements where large numbers of students are seated in lecture halls, straight lecture becomes the primary mode of instruction. In these situations, then, whether or not the experience is fun or boring falls upon the skills of the instructor and how engaging and inspiring the teaching is to the student. In the surveys, lack of enthusiasm, monotony of voice, unnecessary repetition, etc. were all pointed out as faults of the instructor. One student summarized it as: " The presenter was speaking about the subject matter with minimal eye contact. It seems as if the presenter was more focused on getting through the material than interacting with the audience." Much is to be said about the skills of the orator in such situations. Personally, I have sat through 40-minute sermons that have seemed to drag on for hours but have sat spellbound for an hour-and-a-half that seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Regardless of content, there are some people "gifted" with speaking that can engage an audience even despite the subject matter.

The issue of a lesson having no relevance or the subject matter itself being uninspiring may be inherent in our education system because there are requirements at all levels of schooling to take certain coursework. People are quick to label themselves as a "math person" or "English person," yet up until upper-division college courses, the expectation is for all students to take a wide range of classes regardless of interests or connection to the subject matter; is it surprising, then, to hear a complaint like having to sit through "math theory after theory "? If a subject matter is of no interest to the learner yet is required by the learning institution, it becomes the responsibility of the student to "grin and bear it."

Although the remaining sub-categories only had a few respondents each, they were of interest to me as a high school teacher as they indicate how students can "fall through the cracks" if we are not deliberate about our instruction. For instance, four students bemoaned the difficulty of a certain lesson, epitomized by the following comment: " We were being instructed on how to identify parts of a poem. The poem made no sense to me and I didn't know what half the words even meant. I remember asking what a word meant and was told that vocabulary was not part of the lesson and to get back on track. I was lost from that point on. " Undoubtedly, students that become "lost" along the way during a lesson will be more prone to disconnect from the learning experience and have a negative perception of the experience. There are times during essay writing in my classes where most of the class is almost finished with a paragraph that I will come across a frustrated student staring blankly at a page with two or three sentences written. It takes a herculean effort to re-engage such learners to prevent failure on an assignment. Also, every year I hear students use the reason "that teacher didn't like me" to explain poor performance in a class; this perception showed up in the results as five responders noted the aggressive attitude of the instructor as what stood out in making a learning experience boring. One responder's comment sums it up: " Everyone was afraid of the teacher because he appeared to get angry when asked questions. He asked if we were listening and gave us a dirty look."

What Makes Learning Fun?
Even though the experiences responders perceived as fun had a common set of components like interacting with other students at 69.3%, interacting with the instructor at 68.7%, performing or presenting at 59.4%, etc., by examining the short answer descriptions, it is possible to further break down and discuss the particulars of what struck participants as key factors in increasing the enjoyment of the learning experience.

Out of the 100 surveys studied, specific reasons as to why the experience was fun could be isolated as follows: Tactile or active involvement: 46 There were a variety of activities: 16 Interest/relevance of subject matter: 12 Skill/mastery of the instructor: 11 Depth of study was engaging: 8 Learners involved in a simulation: 7 Personal connection with instructor: 3

It was no surprise that active involvement ranked highest in making a learning experience fun; it was enjoyable simply reading through the variety of means by which instructors have engaged students in the learning process. Activities were wide-ranging, including group discussions, dissection, projects, presentations, surf lessons, nature hikes, and more. Personally, elective courses like graphic arts and fencing have been memorable in my life as they had direct, tactile involvement that made the classes enjoyable. Participants in the survey made statements about engaging and memorable lessons such as, " mixing oil colors to create a usable pallet," " We worked in teams and the competition was fierce," " we had the opportunity to go int he mines, test minerals, work the drill and even watch them place dynamite caps." The largest downside to such experiences is the amount of preparation time required by the instructor. This is especially true for a sub-type of active learning, the simulation, which seven responders specifically mentioned. Instructors on my campus can spend days to weeks preparing for a simulation for their classes, with great results and meaning for students... and exhaustion for the teacher; many have to show a film for a couple of days to recover.

The second highest aspect of a lesson being perceived as fun was that it included a variety of activities, such as when one learner commented, " We had a variety of tasks during the day, eventually building up to a presentation by our table at the end of the day. Probably 5 different topics where there was a speaker, then we broke into our groups for about 20 minutes to complete an assigned task or test." Common idoms like "variety is the spice of life" are confirmed in such experiences, as even straight lecture in moderation and combined with other activities can be perceived as enjoyable. As a teacher, I connect most with this method of keeping my students engaged; there is seldom a day when we are not moving between three-to-four tasks in a 55-minute period. Often I hear the comment, "This class went fast," and it is not a result of a lack of content or learning. In a single day we may have talked about several idioms, reviewed or interacted with vocabulary, touched on grammar, and delved into a portion of our current core literature.

Just as a lack of interest or relevance caused a learning experience to be boring, interest and relevance and the depth of a study were factors in several responders to indicate that they had fun. As one respondent indicated, " great, creative ideas... kept me engaged and listening to classmates presentations," demonstrating that a connection to the subject matter plays an important role in learner connection. Of interest to me was the indicator that, while the instructor often was a key component making a class boring, the skill of the teacher, while still important, was only the key factor of making the lesson fun in eleven of the survey responses. Some students did make comments like, " She was also enthusiastic about the material that was being presented," " One of my college philosophy instructors was an dynamic teacher who always held the attention of his students. I enjoyed the material and his speaking style," and " The teacher possessed an uncanny knack for stimulating meaningful dialog and delving deeper into any topic as irrelevant as it many have seemed." However, more often than not, the "fun-factor" for students seemed to be a result of planning over personality, although teacher enthusiasm was undoubtedly a factor in many other positive experiences even when not specifically mentioned.

Implications
While the results were in no way unexpected or surprising, they did confirm the need for instructors to consider how important learner perception and involvement is in planning engaging and challenging lessons. Of course, straight lecture and presentations are sometimes necessary in some, if not all, subject areas; however, there are techniques and skills teachers can develop to draw in learners regardless of the manner of instruction. As much as possible, passive learning and a lack of interaction between and among teacher and students should be minimized. Personally, I have seen teachers break up lectures for brief stories, "bird walks," and even short interactions between students to engage learners beyond straight lecture-- so it is possible interject fun in those situations that call for straight-forward transfer of information.

The other implication that I have taken away from these surveys is confirmation that planning and designing active and engaging lessons, from group discussion to simulations, is well worth the effort for the impact they have on the learning experience. Also, variety in curriculum planning is invaluable in planning coursework. Even dry material (like grammar!) becomes more palatable in small doses, when mixed with other activities and study in whatever time-frame is available.